Children's Social Care: A Preliminary Evaluation of Two Judge-led pre-Proceedings Protocols

In April 2013, a team of researchers at the University of the West of England, Bristol was asked to monitor a pre-proceedings protocol that was about to be introduced in the field of Children’s Social Care by the Designated Family Judge for Bristol. Shortly afterwards, the team was asked to appraise a pre-proceedings protocol that had already been introduced by the Designated Family Judge for Cheshire & Merseyside. The pre-proceedings protocols were similar to each other but not identical. The intention behind them both, however, was to bring about a change in the approach of local authorities and courts to chronic and multi-issue cases. The researchers undertook a quantitative and qualitative exploratory study in Bristol and Chester between December 2013 and December 2014. They set out to understand the procedural changes that were made following the introduction of the pre-proceedings protocols and to consider whether the protocols had reduced the time taken to conclude care proceedings and led to improvements for families and children. The researchers analysed raw data and spoke to parents, judges and professionals working within the family justice system. The article discusses the study and offers a preliminary evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of the two pre-proceedings protocols

Ecological Impacts of the 2015/16 El Niño in the Central Equatorial Pacific

The authors thank Cisco Werner (NOAA/NMFS) for proposing this special issue and encouraging our submission. We thank each of the editors, Stephanie Herring, Peter Stott, and Nikos Christidis, for helpful guidance and support throughout the submittal process. We also thank each of the anonymous external reviewers for thoughtful guidance and suggestions to improve the manuscript. REB, TO, RV, AH, and BVA are grateful for support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program. AC acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation for the following awards: OCE 1537338, OCE 1605365, and OCE 1031971. This is PMEL contribution no. 4698. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government. The views expressed in the article are not necessarily those of the U.S. government. (NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program; OCE 1537338 - National Science Foundation; OCE 1605365 - National Science Foundation; OCE 1031971 - National Science Foundation

Framing best practice: National Standards for the primary prevention of sexual assault through education (National Sexual Assault Prevention Education Project for NASASV)

In 2008, the Rudd Labor Government identified the prevention of violence against women as a priority for action. The National Sexual Assault Prevention Education Research Project (SAPE) was established to complete a one-year project to develop and trial a national sexual assault prevention education framework. The project was to identify best or promising practice models for doing sexual assault prevention education in the Australian context with the aim of building upon existing prevention education activities to provide a framework that can be implemented across Australia by prevention educators, service providers, policy makers and funding bodies. In considering existing prevention programs the following areas were of particular interest: programs that have incorporated men as well as women, that are targeted to culturally and sexually diverse groups, and that address the specific needs of regional women and men and people with disabilities. Another key component of the consultation process was to identify programs that included some form of evaluation, particularly programs that have included steps toward assessing behavioural change. In addition, the research was to identify some of the barriers to wider implementation of primary sexual assault prevention education. This report provides a comprehensive discussion of the research underpinning the framework, along with some of the researchers' analysis of the 32 fieldwork interviews that were completed with workers and other key individuals in most states in Australia. Six national standards for sexual assault prevention education are identified and described as the framework for increasing the capacity of the sector to deliver high quality primary prevention education programs

Presacral malakoplakia presenting as foot drop: a case report

Background: Malakoplakia is a rare condition characterized by inflammatory masses with specific histological characteristics. These soft tissue masses can mimic tumors and tend to develop in association with chronic or recurrent infections, typically of the urinary tract. A specific defect in innate immunity has been described. In the absence of randomized controlled trials, management is based on an understanding of the biology and on case reports. Case presentation: Here we describe a case of presacral malakoplakia in a British Indian woman in her late 30s, presenting with complex unilateral foot drop. Four years earlier, she had suffered a protracted episode of intrapelvic sepsis following a caesarean delivery. Resection of her presacral soft tissue mass was not possible. She received empiric antibiotics, a cholinergic agonist, and ascorbic acid. She responded well to medical management both when first treated and following a recurrence of symptoms after completing an initial 8 months of therapy. Whole exome sequencing of the patient and her parents was undertaken but no clear causal variant was identified. Conclusions: Malakoplakia is uncommon but the diagnosis should be considered where soft tissue masses develop at the site of chronic or recurrent infections. Obtaining tissue for histological examination is key to making the diagnosis. This case suggests that surgical resection is not always needed to achieve a good clinical and radiological outcome

Atomistic modelling of scattering data in the Collaborative Computational Project for Small Angle Scattering (CCP-SAS)

The capabilities of current computer simulations provide a unique opportunity to model small-angle scattering (SAS) data at the atomistic level, and to include other structural constraints ranging from molecular and atomistic energetics to crystallography, electron microscopy and NMR. This extends the capabilities of solution scattering and provides deeper insights into the physics and chemistry of the systems studied. Realizing this potential, however, requires integrating the experimental data with a new generation of modelling software. To achieve this, the CCP-SAS collaboration (http://www.ccpsas.org/) is developing open-source, high-throughput and user-friendly software for the atomistic and coarse-grained molecular modelling of scattering data. Robust state-of-the-art molecular simulation engines and molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo force fields provide constraints to the solution structure inferred from the small-angle scattering data, which incorporates the known physical chemistry of the system. The implementation of this software suite involves a tiered approach in which GenApp provides the deployment infrastructure for running applications on both standard and high-performance computing hardware, and SASSIE provides a workflow framework into which modules can be plugged to prepare structures, carry out simulations, calculate theoretical scattering data and compare results with experimental data. GenApp produces the accessible web-based front end termed SASSIE-web, and GenApp and SASSIE also make community SAS codes available. Applications are illustrated by case studies: (i) inter-domain flexibility in two- to six-domain proteins as exemplified by HIV-1 Gag, MASP and ubiquitin; (ii) the hinge conformation in human IgG2 and IgA1 antibodies; (iii) the complex formed between a hexameric protein Hfq and mRNA; and (iv) synthetic 'bottlebrush' polymers

Family law concentrate: law revision and study guide (fifth edition)

Family Law Concentrate is written and designed to help you succeed. Accurate and reliable, Concentrate guides help consolidate your learning, focus your revision, and maximise your exam performance. Each guide includes revision tips, advice on how to achieve extra marks, and a thorough and focused breakdown of the key topics and cases. Written by experts and covering all the key topics so you can approach your exams with confidence Clear, concise, and easy-to-use helping you get the most out of your revision Full of learning features and tips to show you how best to impress your examiner Revision guides you can rely on: trusted by lecturers, loved by students There is wide array of accompanying online resources, including interactive, key cases flashcards, self-test questions and advice on revision and exam technique New to this edition Fully updated in light of recent developments in the law including extension of civil partnerships to heterosexual couples, and proposals to reform the law of divorce and domestic abuse Recent case law on civil partnerships, divorce and parenthood Discussion of the Law Commission reviews of the law of surrogacy and marriage New and updated references to academic commentar

Family law concentrate: law revision and study guide (fifth edition)

Family Law Concentrate is written and designed to help you succeed. Accurate and reliable, Concentrate guides help consolidate your learning, focus your revision, and maximise your exam performance. Each guide includes revision tips, advice on how to achieve extra marks, and a thorough and focused breakdown of the key topics and cases. Written by experts and covering all the key topics so you can approach your exams with confidence Clear, concise, and easy-to-use helping you get the most out of your revision Full of learning features and tips to show you how best to impress your examiner Revision guides you can rely on: trusted by lecturers, loved by students There is wide array of accompanying online resources, including interactive, key cases flashcards, self-test questions and advice on revision and exam technique New to this edition Fully updated in light of recent developments in the law including extension of civil partnerships to heterosexual couples, and proposals to reform the law of divorce and domestic abuse Recent case law on civil partnerships, divorce and parenthood Discussion of the Law Commission reviews of the law of surrogacy and marriage New and updated references to academic commentar

Norgrove and after: An overview of the Family Justice Review and the government's response

This article considers the key elements of the Norgrove Review and the Government Response. It focuses on a single family court, public and private law proceedings, shared parenting, child arrangements orders, parenting agreements, Grandparents and divorce

Consultation document: Bearing good witness - proposals for reforming the delivery of medical expert evidence in family law cases

Several high‐profile criminal cases, such as those of Sally Clark, Angela Cannings, Trupti Patel and Donna Anthony – all wrongly convicted of the murder of their children on the basis of flawed expert evidence – have raised serious questions about the use, nature and quality of expert evidence in such cases. As well as the injustice and suffering inflicted on innocent families, the publicity surrounding these cases has seriously undermined public confidence in the criminal justice system. Further, this publicity has deterred suitably qualified clinicians, already in short supply, from acting as expert witnesses. In the wake of these cases, the government commissioned the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, to produce proposals for the reform of expert evidence in family law cases more generally.Such reform was long overdue since there were already serious concerns about unacceptable delays in cases where experts were instructed. These delays were attributed partly to a significant increase in the number of experts being instructed, their limited availability for hearings and the late submission of reports to the court. Such issues are addressed in the Report from Sir Liam Donaldson on this issue, which concentrates on public law proceedings in Children Act cases and makes 16 proposals for reform. As the Report makes clear, the issues raised are relevant to medical evidence in both criminal and Children Act cases

Family law session: Transparency in the family courts and what the delegates said

This article was published as part of the "Update Extra" in Jordans' Family Law Journal in February 2016 and discusses the first public Family Law Session of its kind in England & Wales which took place at the Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre on 1st October 2015